David Poile

Nashville Predators Will Not Re-Sign Mikael Granlund, Craig Smith

September 30, 2020 at 6:07 pm CDT | by Zach Leach 2 Comments

The forward corps of the Nashville Predators will look a bit different next season. Not only is Nashville believed to be in the market for a top-six addition, but they also won’t be bringing back two of their top-nine forwards from this past season. Craig Smith, a career Predator, and Mikael Granlund, a big 2019 trade addition, will test the free agent market. GM David Poile tells Paul Skrbina of the Nashville Tennesean that the team will not re-sign either veteran forward.

In a relatively thin free agent market, Granlund and Smith will be two of the more sought-after names among available forwards. Granlund’s time in Nashville, spent recording just 35 points in 79 total games, did not go as expected for either side. However, Granlund was a premiere forward during his days with the Minnesota Wild, possessing 70-point upside and the versatility to play any position up front. At just 27 years old, a team looking to land a true top-six forward will likely be happy to take a shot on Granlund and hope the fit is better than it was in Nashville. In Smith, interested teams could land an aggressive, goal-scoring right wing. While Smith has shown 50+ point ability in the past, he is probably more of a 30-point player as he heads into his thirties. A strong possession player with great work ethic, Smith will be an excellent third-line option for a contender barring a negative effect of leaving the Predators system.

With the cap space saved by not extending Smith or Granlund, the Predators will have some flexibility to add another piece. However, Poile also stated that he is looking for some promotion from within. One option is another impending free agent, Colin Blackwell, who scored at an impressive clip in limited showings in the NHL and AHL this season. Poile confirmed to Skrbina that the team is currently negotiating with Blackwell and could reach a new deal. Frederick Gaudreau is another UFA-to-be who has solid AHL production and NHL experience. However, Blackwell and Gaudreau are both 27 and the team could look to go younger with their open roster spots. Poile mentions 23-year-old Rem Pitlick and 21-year-old Eeli Tolvanen as names likely to be given a long look at a regular role next season.

Nashville Predators Officially Name Dan Hinote As Assistant Coach

September 11, 2020 at 11:15 am CDT | by Zach Leach Leave a Comment

As anticipated, the Nashville Predators have made the official announcement that former NHL forward Dan Hinote has joined the team as an assistant coach. Hinote has spent the past two season as an assistant with the U.S. National Team Development Program and ironically is set to replace Dan Muse on head coach John Hynes’ staff after Muse was named a head coach for the USNTDP. Hinote rounds out a staff that also includes Dan Lambert and Rob Scuderi. Hynes said of his new addition:

Hinote’s character, personality, as well as playing and coaching experience will be a great fit for our team and players. As a player, Dan brought energy and leadership to his teams, winning a Stanley Cup with Colorado in 2001, and his experience as a coach with the Columbus Blue Jackets and USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program will be of great value to our organization.

GM David Poile, who has always had a soft spot for the USNTDP, added his own support for Hinote’s hire, stating:

In this assistant coach position, we were looking for a former player who was fairly recently retired but still had coaching experience, and Dan fit that description perfectly. He builds strong connections with players – including Ryan Johansen in his time in Columbus – and has played with Predators alumni and Hall of Famers Paul Kariya and Peter Forsberg in Colorado, as well as Predators Director of Player Development Scott Nichol, Preds broadcaster Chris Mason and Kariya again in St. Louis. Dan complements John and the rest of our current staff nicely, and I trust he will be a tremendous asset to the team.

As mentioned, prior to his time with the USNTDP Hinote spent eight seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets, splitting his time between working as an assistant coach and a pro scout for the organization. Hinote joined Columbus immediately after retiring in 2010. While he spent his final playing season in Sweden, Hinote spent nine seasons in the NHL as a hard-working and intelligent two-way forward. He hopes to bring those same hallmarks to his position with the Predators and impart them on the players.

Predators GM David Poile: “We Need To Make Some Changes”

August 13, 2020 at 10:35 am CDT | by Gavin Lee 12 Comments

The Nashville Predators are a good team, they have been for years. In 2017 they even made it to the Stanley Cup Final and then finished with 117 points the following season. But for years now they’ve been criticized for not having enough star power, not having enough scoring. This season, those critiques rang true as the team needed a Norris Trophy-level performance from Roman Josi to even get them to the qualification round. Josi was the only player on the roster who recorded more than 50 points, leading the way with his 65 in 69 games. Filip Forsberg was next with 48, the only player on the roster to crack the 20-goal mark.

So when the team couldn’t get past the Arizona Coyotes in a best-of-five series to earn a real playoff spot, it didn’t come as a real shock. The Predators were a good team, but not a dominant one. Even after a midseason coaching change, Nashville only went 16-11-1 for John Hynes, not a lot better than they’d been under Peter Laviolette.

It comes as no surprise then, as GM David Poile watched this transpire, that he knows there needs to be a different group on the ice next season. In his end of year media availability today, Poile told reporters including Adam Vingan of The Athletic that “it is very clear to me that we need to make some changes.” Mike Morreale of NHL.com tweets an even longer, perhaps more telling quote:

Some players aren’t going to be brought back…We’re not satisfied, and we’re going to make some changes. We have to manage better, John and his staff have to coach better, and players have to play better.

The veteran GM has been with the Predators from the very beginning when they broke into the league as an expansion franchise in 1998-99. That team, with Barry Trotz behind the bench and Cliff Ronning leading the offense, was bad. This group isn’t anywhere near that, but after more than two decades of existence and only a handful of playoff series wins, something obviously needs to change.

Notably, the Predators don’t have a ton of cap room to make those changes. This was the last season of Josi’s incredibly inexpensive previous contract, which saw him carry a $4MM cap hit while routinely being among the league’s best offensive defensemen. Next year, that number more than doubles to $9.06MM per season and locks Josi in as one of the highest-paid defenders in the league.

Long-term contracts for Ryan Johansen, Matt Duchene, Kyle Turris, Viktor Arvidsson, Colton Sissons and Ryan Ellis also tie up a huge amount of money for the next half-decade plus. Trading contracts of that length is increasingly difficult in today’s NHL, somewhat tying Poile’s hands on how drastic a makeover he can accomplish. There’s also the issue of goaltending, where Pekka Rinne is now an expensive backup and Juuse Saros will soon need a new contract.

Poile has always been known as GM willing to make big trades. He’s pulled off some of the biggest one-for-one deals in recent history, moving Seth Jones for Johansen, Shea Weber for P.K. Subban, and Martin Erat for Forsberg (apologies to Michael Latta, but that deal will long be remembered for the primary pieces). Perhaps he can pull off a deal of that magnitude again because if the Predators come back with the same group next season they’ll be good—but that’s obviously not enough.

Connor Ingram Signs Three-Year Contract

March 23, 2020 at 12:15 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 2 Comments

In classic David Poile fashion, the Nashville Predators have completed a multi-year extension with one of their much lesser-known players. Connor Ingram today has signed a three-year deal that carries an average annual value of just over $733K. The contract is two-way for both 2020-21 and 2021-22, before turning into a one-way contract in 2022-23.

Ingram, 22, came over to the Predators organization this season after a tumultuous tenure with the Tampa Bay Lightning and has posted a .933 save percentage in 33 AHL starts. Still waiting on his first NHL appearance, the third-round pick will have some safety and security with this new contract.

The deal also obviously has some expansion draft value for the Predators, who will almost surely be protecting Juuse Saros, but there is also real promise in Ingram as a future NHL option. While things didn’t work out in Tampa Bay it wasn’t because of his performance on the ice. Ingram has consistently posted strong results, only strengthening the scouting takes that had him as a top goaltending prospect in 2016.

With Pekka Rinne’s struggles this season, it’s hard to imagine the Predators extending him after his current contract ends after next season. At that point the franchise goaltender would be 38 and likely near the end of his career. Saros too will be a free agent in 2021, though he will be restricted and arbitration eligible. Locking up Ingram for the next several years at least gives them some stability at the position, even if he never does become a starting NHL option.

Trade Deadline Primer: Nashville Predators

February 23, 2020 at 2:13 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 3 Comments

With the trade deadline now just a few days away, we will be taking a closer look at the situation for each team over the coming weeks. Where do they stand, what do they need to do, and what assets do they have to fill those needs? Next up is a look at the Nashville Predators.

It’s been an up-and-down year in Nashville for a team that had such high expectations. For a while, the team was floundering near the bottom of the Central Division. The team fired long-time head coach Peter Laviolette and replaced him with John Hynes. While the results have been slow-going, Nashville seems to be moving up in the standings. Suddenly, just one point out of a playoff spot, the Predators look like a team that could make a playoff run after all. That puts general manager David Poile in an interesting position at the trade deadline. Should he buy, stand still, or maybe even sell?

Record

30-23-8, fifth in the Central Division

Deadline Status

Slight Buyer

Deadline Cap Space

$11.517MM in a full-season cap hit, 0/3 used salary cap retention slots, 45/50 contracts per CapFriendly

Upcoming Draft Picks

2020: NAS 1st, NJD 2nd, NAS 2nd, MIN 3rd, NAS 3rd, NAS 5th, NAS 6th
2021: NAS 1st, NAS 2nd, NAS 3rd, NAS 4th, NAS 5th, NAS 6th

Trade Chips

One name seen often as a trade deadline candidate is Mikael Granlund. The winger was brought over from Minnesota to give the team another experienced and gifted top-six forward. However, that hasn’t happened as he struggled with a goal and five assists in 16 games with the team last season. It wasn’t much better early on as he had six goals and 14 points through 35 games under Laviolette, which has had a lot to do with the rumors. However, Granlund seems to have found his game under Hynes. He has nine goals and three assists in those 20 games. Regardless, the 27-year-old who will be an unrestricted free agent next year, still may not be the best fit in Nashville’s system and could be a target for teams that believe he’d be a better fit in their system.

Craig Smith is a somewhat different story. Also a UFA next summer, Smith could be a potential trade candidate if the team feels they can’t re-sign him, although it’s just as possible that Nashville locks him up in the near future as well. Smith has turned it on of late with six goals in his past eight games. He could be part of a package for an upgrade, if the team is ready to move on from him.

The team could find itself bringing in help on defense as the team needs depth, especially with their third pairing. It wouldn’t be surprising if the team moved one of those defenders to send back for an upgrade on defense as well, such as Dan Hamhuis, Yannick Weber or Matt Irwin.

Nashville has most of their picks, but have two second and two third-rounders in this upcoming draft. That might be the ammunition to acquire a player they covet. The team also has a few prospects and while it’s unlikely they would move their top prospect forwards in Philip Tomasino, or Eeli Tolvanen there are a number of other prospects who could interest a team, such as forward Egor Afanasyev or defenseman Jeremy Davies in the right deal.

Five Players To Watch For: F Egor Afanasyev, F Mikael Granlund, D Dan Hamhuis, F Craig Smith, D Yannick Weber

Team Needs

1) Top-Four Defenseman: Despite having one of the best top-four pieces in the NHL before this season started, the Predators knew they here hoping for a lot when they traded P.K. Subban and handing his role to rookie Dante Fabbro. He has had an up-and-down year, but injuries to other members of the top-four, including Ryan Ellis, has forced their third pairing players to move into the top four at times, which has been a disaster, which means the team could really use another top-four blueliner and move Fabbro down a notch on the depth chart. Many feel that New Jersey’s Sami Vatanen could be a good fit here.

2) Upgrade In Top-Six: The Predators have two potential unrestricted free agents in Granlund and Smith coming up and with cap considerations, they might be better off packaging them to another team in hopes of getting a forward with term that can help them both this year and in the future.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Nashville’s Austin Watson Moved From Healthy Scratch To First Line

January 18, 2020 at 7:32 pm CDT | by Zach Leach 4 Comments

It has now been a week and a half since John Hynes replaced Peter Laviolette as the head coach of the Nashville Predators. In that time, it has been a mixed bag of results. Hynes lost his debut mere hours after his hire became official, but it came at the hands of the Boston Bruins, one of the league’s best teams. The Predators then scored a convincing win over the Chicago Blackhawks and a hard fought two points against the Winnipeg Jets. Just when it looked like the coaching change could be paying immediate dividends, Nashville dropped their past two games to the Edmonton Oilers and Anaheim Ducks.

Hynes has apparently decided that major lineup changes may be in order to get the team to play up to their expectations and he plans to begin those experiments on Saturday night against the Buffalo Sabres. After already demoting Viktor Arvidsson to the third line, Hynes is set to roll out another major lineup change. Austin Watson goes from healthy scratch for four of the five games of Hynes’ young tenure to the first line, joining Ryan Johansen and Calle Jarnkrok. He replaces Craig Smith, who is set to fall all the way to the fourth line with Kyle Turris and Colin Blackwell, with Yakov Trenin getting the healthy scratch due to Watson’s addition.

Hynes’ thinking with this move may not be as focused on offense as it is on defense. In fact, while many Nashville forwards have been disappointing on an individual basis this season, the team is tied for eighth in the NHL in goals for per game. The same can’t be said for goals against, where the Predators are ranked 24th. Nashville simply has not been a difficult team to play against this season and the loss of Colton Sissons has only exasperated that fact. There has been an obvious lack of physical response and energy from the forward group many nights. As they struggle to get a more balanced, two-way effort out of their forwards, Hynes may be hoping that a refreshed Watson, who leads the team in hits by a wide margin despite sitting six games (and Sissons is in second) can add some punch to the top line. Meanwhile, Smith can bring some experience and scoring threat to the fourth line, where maybe he can even get Turris re-energized.

Perhaps more important than strategy is that this moves by Hynes sends a message that no one’s role is safe under the new coach. The effort has to improve and no one is irreplaceable if they don’t perform. If the team continues to lose, don’t be surprised to see GM David Poile send the same message to his roster by the trade deadline.

Nashville Predators Fire Peter Laviolette

January 6, 2020 at 5:35 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 19 Comments

The Nashville Predators have decided to move in a different direction. The team announced that head coach Peter Laviolette has been relieved of his coaching duties, along with associate coach Kevin McCarthy. General manager David Poile released a short statement:

Under the leadership of Peter and Kevin, our organization reached unprecedented heights – from our franchise-altering run to the Stanley Cup Final to a Presidents’ Trophy and our first two Central Division titles. Their passion for the game, ability to motivate a team and drive to be the best makes this a difficult decision. On behalf of the entire organization, I would like to thank Peter and Kevin for all their contributions to the Nashville Predators over the past five-and-a-half seasons.

Just a few days ago Poile had claimed that Laviolette’s job was not in jeopardy, but that apparently didn’t last long. The Predators lost again last night in a shootout to the Anaheim Ducks, putting them at 19-15-7 on the season despite a positive goal differential. Their stars have been good, but the team can’t seem to get any sustained success, only once having a winning streak of more than two games. Perhaps most embarrassing was a loss to the Dallas Stars in the Winter Classic, even after getting out to a 2-0 lead.

Amazingly, the Predators are now looking for only their third coach in franchise history. Barry Trotz coached the team for their first 15 seasons, and Laviolette has been in charge since 2014. In that time he led the team to the Stanley Cup final and compiled a regular season record of 248-143-60, but clearly wasn’t the choice for the team at this point. A team representative told reporters including Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet that the head coach for the Predators’ game tomorrow night is “to be announced” as there was no interim coach named in the release.

It will be interesting to see if Laviolette quickly lands somewhere else in the NHL, as he has had an extremely successful career behind the bench. A Stanley Cup winner in 2006 with the Carolina Hurricanes, he has an all-time head coaching record of 637-425-25-123 in the regular season and 75-68 in the playoffs.

West Notes: Predators, Hjalmarsson, Kuemper, Flames

January 4, 2020 at 12:53 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 8 Comments

After adding Matt Duchene in free agency this summer, the Predators were expected to once again be one of the top teams in the Central Division. However, that hasn’t come to fruition as Nashville is tied for last in the division (though they’ve played the fewest games in the conference). Speaking with 104.5 The Zone (audio link), GM David Poile indicated that he’s “open for business” when it comes to the trade market and acknowledged that if things don’t turn around quickly, they could be sellers for the first time in quite a while. When asked about the possibility of making a coaching change, Poile stated that replacing Peter Laviolette is “not in my game plan right now”. Laviolette is in his sixth season with the team and they have made the playoffs in each year that he has been there.

Central Notes: Sissons, Laviolette, Shaw, Perreault

December 28, 2019 at 7:01 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg Leave a Comment

The Nashville Predators lost another forward Friday as the team has placed forward Colton Sissons on injured reserve with a lower-body injury during the team’s 5-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, according to the Tennessean’s Paul Skrbina. By being placed on IR, Sissons cannot return for at least seven days, meaning he is expected to miss Wednesday’s Winter Classic in Dallas at the Cotton Bowl.

Sissons was injured during the first period Friday after teammate Nick Bonino tripped up Pittsbugh Zach Aston-Reese who fell on Sissons’ ankle. He was wearing a walking boot after the game to protect his ankle. The 26-year-old had seven goals and 13 points in 37 games so far this season.

The team recalled forward Yakov Trenin from the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL, who is expected to fill in some depth for the Predators.

Sticking with the Predators, despite the team’s struggles in the standings (sixth place in the Central Division), The Athletic’s Adam Vingan writes that he doesn’t see an easy fix to fixing the fortunes of a team originally predicted to be among the top teams in the Western Conference. The scribe writes that firing coach Peter Laviolette isn’t a likely scenario as he remains in good standing with management and general manager David Poile doesn’t have a history of firing coaches. In fact, in nearly 40 years, Poile has only had five head coaches total.
Chicago Blackhawks fans that were hoping to see forward Andrew Shaw soon will be disappointed, but head coach Jeremy Colliton said that the rugged forward will not be returning to the team anytime soon, according to NBC Sports’ Charlie Roumeliotis. Shaw, has been out since Nov. 30 with a concussion, and his status hasn’t improved much. The team is also without Drake Caggiula, also out with a concussion since Nov. 10. Caggiula, who is deemed closer by Colliton, however, will not join Chicago on their upcoming three-game roadtrip.
The Winnipeg Jets could be getting back one of their players shortly. The Athletic’s Murat Ates reports that forward Mathieu Perreault continues to wear a yellow non-contact jersey, but the 31-year-old hopes to get in a full practice in soon with the hopes of possibly returning to the lineup on Tuesday when the team faces Colorado. Perreault has been out since Dec. 15 with a concussion. He has six goals and 12 points in 33 games this season and would be a great addition to the team’s bottom-six.

Nashville Predators To Scratch Kyle Turris Again

November 21, 2019 at 12:42 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 6 Comments

The Nashville Predators are one of a handful of teams in the NHL that were expected to be Stanley Cup contenders this season but are struggling to even string two wins together. The team is now on a five-game losing streak that includes blowout losses against the Colorado Avalanche (9-4) and Chicago Blackhawks (7-2), both division rivals ahead of them in the standings.

Just like the other teams making changes to try and spark their clubs, the Predators decided to make Kyle Turris and his $6MM cap hit a healthy scratch on Tuesday against the Winnipeg Jets. Turris will sit out again tonight when the Predators take on the Vancouver Canucks for the second time in four games, with Mathieu Olivier staying in the lineup on the fourth line.

It was Turris who was labeled as a potential difference maker for the Predators when they acquired him just two years ago. Nashville GM David Poile got involved in a three-way trade that saw Matt Duchene go from Colorado to Ottawa, flipping young defenseman Samuel Girard and forward prospect Vladislav Kamenev to the Avalanche in the process. Turris immediately signed a six-year, $36MM contract extension with the Predators and was set to become the team’s long-term answer in the middle of their second line.

Turris had after all just posted a 27-goal campaign with the Senators and was off to a quick start in the 2017-18 season. After arriving in Nashville things went well for a while—the veteran center had 17 points in his first 17 games as a Predator—but by the time the playoffs rolled around his ice time had already been reduced. Turris averaged fewer than 16 minutes a night in the 2018 postseason, a sign of things to come.

Last season was an absolute disaster, with just seven goals and 23 points to his name in an injury-shortened campaign. This season even when he does play, Turris’ ice time has been extremely limited and his responsibility almost completely removed.

Who has filled that second-line center role that Turris was penciled into when he arrived? Well it’s none other than Duchene, who arrived in Nashville through free agency less than two years after the Predators were involved in that three-way trade. Duchene was given a huge contract in the summer to be the running mate down the middle for Ryan Johansen, as Poile and head coach Peter Laviolette decided that Turris wasn’t cutting it.

Scratching such a hefty contract for two straight games is a clear sign that the Predators are ready to move on. Turris’ name has been out there in trade speculation for some time, but getting any sort of value back at this point seems impossible for Nashville. With four more years (after this one) at a $6MM cap hit, Turris is just too expensive for most teams to take on, especially not knowing exactly what he can offer them right now.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

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